Broken Mirrors
by Eternal Outsider
Summary: With a failed former villain as the new target in the AVL's cross hares, Gru and Lucy are thrown back into the ring to stop a wolf in sheep's clothing.


**A/N: This is going to be my first chapter-ed Despicable Me fic. I've been listening to a ton of Depeche Mode and they have helped me along the journey of writing this. I hope you guys enjoy this as much as I do writing it.**

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Gru drummed his fingers against the glaring white tabletop in equal parts of tiredness, annoyance and boredom. Lucy gripped his other hand in hers and smiled before looking up to see Ramsbottom making his way into the now seemingly shrinking conference room.

Gru muttered an '_Oh_ _boy_' under his breath as he sat back in the chair, with his arms crossed.

The large man regarded the two, more so Gru somewhat coldly as he sat down in a chair that was definitely not meant to withstand a person of his 'stature' and Gru gulped somewhat worriedly as the chair creaked. Gru waited with bated breath as he relaxed further into the chair, making it creak once more with his shifting weight. He exchanged a quick worried look with Lucy who returned the look knowingly. He glanced back at the man as he pressed a button that brought up what looked like a coffee maker.

Ramsbottom poured himself some coffee and offered the two of them some, of which Lucy respectively declined. While somewhat surprised that the Englishman had a taste for strong dark Colombian coffee, Gru would have gladly taken some just to help with his growing fatigue. But to be quite honest he wasn't ready to accept anything from someone who was against villains; regardless of if he was working for him, or if he was 'formerly' a villain or not.

Ramsbottom shrugged as he sat back taking in a gulp of coffee pointedly looking at Gru as he did so.

"Glad to see both of you could make it at this hour. I was sure it would interfere with your sleep but alas, crime has no appointed hour." He took a sip from his mug once more and wiped at his mouth with a napkin.

Gru had to stop himself from rolling his eyes, wishing he had a quarter for every time Ramsbottom said something along those lines, but nonetheless kept his composure.

"Yes, eet was pretty rude having to be woken up a 4 in de mourning seeing as our daughters have to be at school een three hours. But no, go ahead and tell us of what we are assigned to do Silas. I'm sure it couldn't wait until tomorrow." Gru glared at him earning a smirk. Ramsbottom pressed a button on the table that lit up the screen overhead containing a couple of pictures that looked to be the same person.

One was of a person in a mask in the process of being detained, before more pictures showed him escaping, and then the other picture was presumably of the same person exquisitely dressed, standing at a heavy podium overlooking a large crowd of people. That was quite a drastic change.

"This is Prime Minister Lenka VaLeceum, a very successful politician who owns a least 5 mansions throughout the country of Russia and even owns the small island of Dhe't Nauave. He's quite a powerful and wealthy individual." He took a sip from the mug again as he flipped through more pictures of this individual.

"Good for him. What's de beeg deal?" Gru more or less muttered to himself, earning another glare from Ramsbottom.

"Well, it turns out that we have an anonymous lead that VaLeceum, who was a former villain like you," He trailed off in a tone of pure disgust, as Gru all but snarled at him.

"Has slipped back into his old habits and has gone to steal the key that goes to King Tut's tomb. It's quite apparent that he has the intention of taking the treasures that are kept there but hasn't done so yet. We aren't sure what he is waiting for, but it is fortunate that we managed to get the lead before he did get around to stealing. The public isn't aware of this obviously, as he is having a Gala this Friday in celebration of his second term."

Gru merely blinked before his eyes widened in realization.

Lenka VaLeceum wasn't a name he had heard since he first began a career in villainy. In fact he and Lenka had grown up together in the same neighborhood. While they hadn't always seen eye to eye, they both had some things in common and lived off of each other through those similarities by being acquaintances bordering on the edge of a rocky friendship. Both of them had been raised by their mothers who were widowed, had been only children and eventually both became villains.

Gru had turned out to be way more successful in the world of villainy than Lenka and of course earned resentment for that very reason.

On one of his very first heists, Lenka had been able to steal the original _Constitution of Pylyp Orlyk_ with the intention of destroying it. He had kept it in his possession for a solid three months before anyone ever realized it was missing. Authorities had been scouting out the area where he had been staying and eventually caught up with him. The inability to plan out his thefts with a successful outcome had ultimately proved to be his downfall as a villain.

Being the only thing he ever did accomplish that gained publicity, he didn't gain that much awareness as a villain overall but had come to be coined the 'Constitution Conniver' for that one deed.

After more failures than successes, and without much warning Lenka disappeared from the lot of villainy, leaving Gru along with many of his fellow villains without a clue as to where he was. To many he became a distant memory.

Becoming a Prime Minister was a huge step up from villainy and it definitely put him up there with the people and places that many villains aspired to be, steal and acquire. It seemed that making little impact as a villain made him rethink his approach and while still in the villainous mindset, he had grown and sought out politics as one of the ways into gaining powers, and objects that were previously denied. He was very smart to snake his way into such a powerful position without anyone ever suspecting his past life.

Gru knew that the only way Lenka had been able to accomplish such a feat was that as a villain he had never used his real name and had always wore masks to conceal his true identity which to Gru seemed like more of a superhero thing to do.

"I'm sure you knew each other by the look on your face. How is it surprising to me that you knew El Macho, and you know this individual, both seemingly insidious characters?" Ramsbottom said again in disgust trying to make Gru uncomfortable. The statement had caught Gru off guard initially, but realizing that this was just another jab at his past life, Gru's tiredness faded away and his blood started to boil.

He stood up quickly and slammed his fist down hard on the table causing the overhead screen to flicker and glared menacingly at the larger man. Lucy jumped up and grabbed Gru's shoulders, quickly realizing that this could get ugly.

"Gru, don't!" She grabbed his arm and tried to calm him down but he wasn't going to budge. She had to admit that she too was quite tired of Silas's relentless jabs at her husband just because he happened to have the record of a super villain.

"Eef you want my damned help _Ramsbottom_, I suggest you start to back off and quit harboring on my past! Got eet?" The glint of pure hatred in Gru's eyes effectively told Ramsbottom that enough was enough. He kept his features in cold indifference but nodded to show his surrender.

Gru wasn't immediately satisfied with his wordless answer and wanted nothing more than to jump across the table and strangle the overly large man for plenty of reasons, but something stopped him. Glancing over at Lucy, his anger drained away and he found himself sitting back down in the chair, somewhat restrained.

"What gets me Silas, ees dat you seem to be going after people I deed know een the past, whether you know eet or not. Dey will find out who I am eventually because I did know dem and I am now trying to stop dem for _you_. A _villain_ never forgets another _villain_." Gru glared back at the large man putting sharp emphasis on the word villain.

"I see Mr. Gru, but that is just a chance we have to take here at the AVL. Danger is just part of the job. _You_ should already know that." Ramsbottom said pointedly as he placed his fingers together.

Gru tightened his hand into a fist making his knuckles turn white and crack as he did so.

"You both are going to go to the Gala. It is special invitation only but that is nothing we can't handle. The mansion will be heavily guarded. Obviously you both will have to find a way around security but at all costs, that key is to be retrieved. Understand?"

Gru and Lucy exchanged looks before glancing back at Ramsbottom.

"Understood."

Ramsbottom clapped his hands together happily making Gru wince "Goodie! I will have further information for you both tomorrow." The large man stood to his feet, and Gru could hear the chair creak in relief as he moved to leave the room. He made it to the door before turning around way faster than he should have been able to, snapping his fingers as if he'd had an epiphany.

"Oh, and one more thing; you will both have to get some dress clothes. Can't have you looking like someone who rolled in off of the streets, can we?"

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***A/N: It kills me to see so many red squiggly lines underneath the names here. **

**Well, this is one chapter down and there are many more to come. This is just the general premise of my OC villain Lenka VaLeceum. There will be virtual hugs given out to those who can tell me what the name Lenka is and what it means. Trust me; it's really fitting for this character. I've finally grown to like Lucy after initially hating her, but I think that she and Gru make a cool couple so I'm going to test that out. I know she doesn't speak much here but she will in the future. More hugs will be given to those who just stop by and leave a review.  
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